Resources for whole wheat and grains, grain milling, training, and kitchen supplies

Monthly Archives: June 2013

Thirteen (13) tips to save money in the kitchen.

By Donna Miller

In today’s economic climate so many people been impacted with a financial burden due to recession or job loss. We often hear the phrase: “I’d love to eat healthier, but I just don’t have the money.” There are so many areas in day to day life that require spending our hard earned cash that health and the family meal plan is put on the back burner because of finances.

But there are many areas in life that are within our control. Often curbing our over expenditures has to do more with unlearning certain spending habits and making a few lifestyle changes to get some areas under better control.

So where can you save money?  There are many, but for the sake of focus let’s just look at one place – saving money in the kitchen.

Kitchen consumable goods and food are one of the most controllable expenses that we face each day, week, month and year. Here are just thirteen of my tips for making the most of these consumable items and food.

Non-food Kitchen Savings:

  • Wash freezer baggies and aluminum foil to reuse.
  • Use old credit cards as a kitchen scraper for dishes and counters.
  • Trap fruit-flies for free without any chemicals using old fruit and a produce baggie.
  • Use citrus mesh bags as a scrubby for pots and pans.
  • Use citrus mesh bags to make your own sprouting lids.
  • Reuse the wax paper that comes in the cereal box.
  • Save butter wrappers to treat pans and cookie sheets instead of buying sprays.
  • Use elastic to hold your pot/pan lids on the door rather than buying an ‘organizer’.
  • Put all slivers of soap in a tied off toe of an old panty-hose (also a bathroom savings).

Food Savings Ideas:

  • Buy and learn to use whole foods rather than pre-made mixes.
  • Multiple uses for rolled oats and popping corn. One low price makes many options.
  • Disguise and remix left-overs.
  • Count how many items are in the pre-bagged produce items.

There are so very many more things that can be done in the kitchen to save money. The opportunities are endless.  Look for future articles to come with even more ideas and tips to try in your own home.

By putting each of this baker’s dozen of tips into practice, the savings mount up and so does your expendable income. As you learn to stretch what you have, you are also gaining a very vital skill.  Enjoy the journey!

For more detailed information on how to do these tips with examples and ideas – listen to this episode of ‘Surviving on Shoestrings’

For videos of some of these ways and more to stretch what you have in the kitchen and save money stop by the Millers Grain House Video Archive.





Gluten free whole grain blender waffles.

Gluten free does not mean you have to live on only processed (expensive) foods.  In fact, if you are eating gluten free you can still get whole grains into your diet.  It’s not only wheat that has bran to help with digestion and colon health but all other forms of whole grains such as oat groats, rice and quinoa seeds such as amaranth and legumes like pintos and navy beans all are rich in fiber (and more).  So opting to go gluten free doesn’t mean buying only pre-made mixes and boxed pre-made, processed food items.  Here’s a recipe for some GREAT gluten free waffles that you can make in a flash by using only whole grains.

One of the things that started my choice to mill grains at home actually was a gluten sensitivity diagnosis. At that time, the gluten free options were few and far between as well as extremely expensive. When we started milling our own grain at home, we realized not only how much healthier it was but how much more versatile and economical it was as well.  We completely stopped buying expensive convenience foods and began making larger batches of our favorite whole grain foods to have conveniently ready at home.

Not only does this recipe (once doubled) lend itself to making more and freezing the left-over waffles for a quick toaster breakfast – it has been adapted to be gluten free and is super easy to make the very first time as well!  The tip is about 5 minutes of prep the night before…leaving very  little prep time in the morning!

You can choose to either mill these grains all together in your Wondermill or Wondermill Jr. Deluxe or do a combination of some milled gluten-free flour and some whole grains. No matter the combination of grains that are left whole and soaked  or milled into flour, you will still be using unprocessed whole grains either way.

Easy, Multi-Grain Gluten Free Blender Waffles

Makes about 8 – 8″ Belgium Waffles

Over Night Ingredients:

  • 1/2 C Teff Grains (whole or mill that 1/2 Cup)
  • 1/2 C Brown or Sweet Rice (whole or mill that 1/2 Cup)
  • 1/2 C Rolled Oats (or mill 1/2 C of oat groats – but don’t mill the rolled oats)
  • 1/4 C Whole (or milled) Millet
  • 1/4 C Whole (or milled) Quinoa
  • 1/4 C Corn Meal (mill popping corn or dry corn or use left-over [wet or dry] grits)
  • 2 C Non-fat Buttermilk
  • 1/3 C Canola, Coconut or Grapeseed Oil
  • 2 TBS Organic Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 TBS Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

 

Put all the above ingredients in a blender or VitaMix and take for a short spin before putting in the refrigerator over night.

Add Morning Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder

 

The next morning, simply wake up, pour your coffee and enjoy the fact there there is no rush!!

When you’re ready, heat the waffle iron and pull the blender from the fridge.  Then, while the mixture is running,  add the above  two ingredients and run until batter is smooth. You may want to adjust the consistency a bit by either adding more buttermilk or more milled gluten free flour.  It should be a little thinner than a pancake batter.

Once your waffle iron is heated, thanks to the handy dandy pouring feature of the blender, just pour on to the iron until about 1/2 full…close the lid and proceed as normal until you’ve produced a fluffy yet crispy.

Keep these warm for a crowd in a 200 degree oven – right on the rack. Serve warm and enjoy.  But be prepared.  You’ll want to make more!

If you’re cooking these for future quick breakfasts on the go.  Put all extra waffles on a wire rack to cool.  Not on a solid surface (they sweat and get soggy).

Once the extra waffles are cooled, you can store them in a freezer bag with wax paper between them and take them out like a cheaper, healthier, gluten-free  ‘eggo’.  They work great in the toaster or toaster oven, un-thawed straight from the freezer!

EnJOY!!

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Donna Miller is a teacher, author, sought-after speaker and trainer. She has been a both guest and host on internet and broadcast radio talk-shows and in television interviews.

She is the hostess of “Your Preparation Station” on Preparedness Radio Network. and Surviving on Shoestrings.  She and her husband are the Organizers of WNC Preparedness Group in Asheville, NC.  She is an Adjunct Instructor for Frontier Christian University. She teaches local classes & ladies retreats for people to learn hands skills.

She and her husband are the founders of Millers Grain House and Your Preparation Station and are on the board of PREPARE Magazine.

Joseph and Donna have been happily married for 28 years and have three adult children, and one daughter in-law.

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You know, I wish everyone who read this blog post lived closer.  Mostly because my most favorite thing about my ‘work’ is teaching.  I really am not a fan of inanimate objects, retail sales or general accumulation of stuff…but I am a fan of acquiring skills and then sharing them with others. If I could make a living off of just sharing what I’ve learned through trial and error…I most certainly would!

So why am I blogging about a class that you may or may not be close enough to come take…well… because we hope to create this class as a downloadable video or a DVD.  Well, and yes, if you are close enough to the neighborhood – I’d love to meet you and share this experience with you (provided your interested of course).lequip_filterpro_big1 b2bdehydrator

 

 

 

ASOPackage4-13ASOpageexcalibur-2900BLK9TRAYDehydrating is one of the best ways to prolong the harvest and halt the spoiling of fresh produce (thus saving money).  As a matter of fact today – just before posting this – we were dehydrating some mushrooms in the All American Sun Oven just outside the shop door.  Why? Because they were on sale because they were too close to the ‘buy by’ date and we know we can make them long-term shelf worthy this way BEFORE they spoil!

Dehydrating requires no electricity for storage so when the power goes out, you still have shelf stable food available without all the added preservatives.

So if you are able…I hope you’ll consider attending this (or any other class)!

 

The Dehydrating Basics Class will give you the basics of getting started.  We’ll share some ideas of what dehydrates well, what doesn’t and even some surprises with things you thought maybe couldn’t BE dehydrated but can be!

Here’s what we’ll do….

Eat some samples and give you some recipes. (:
Learn Proper Storage instructions for your dehydrated foods.
Learn some Re-hydration tips.
Demo and try a couple of Non-Electric options to dehydrating.

 

If you own a dehydrator already – this is a chance to learn to take full advantage of this money saving tool!  I hope you’ll attend if you can, or if not, perhaps we can send you the DVD later on!